If you'll turn back with me now
to Romans chapter 11. And for you who never studied
Romans chapter 11, let me be the first to encourage you to
do so. I'm going to have to agree with
Peter. He said some of these things
Paul says are hard to be understood. And they are because he goes
back and forth. And this is one of those chapters
where he's talking about the Gentiles, and then he talks about
the Jews, and then he talks about the Gentiles, and then he talks
about the Jews again. And people get confused about
what he's talking about. But this chapter, if you'll give
it some study, is just filled with assurance and hope and reasons
to trust our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I
will tell you this. Before you study this chapter,
go back and read the first 10, because there are some things
that have already been established. And I mention just one of them
there in chapter 10 before he gets into this question. But
the chapter begins by assuring us that God has not cast away
his people. I believe it may be a misunderstanding. of who are and who are not God's
people that has led this generation of false prophets to talk about
this ungodly doctrine of backsliding and so on that's being promoted
in our day. And also trying to take this
chapter and talk about a reappearance and a reassembling of the nation
of Israel and a calling them back to God as though Israel
were some separate entity from God's people. And that's not
so either. Paul tells us plainly in Hebrews
10, verse 39, that the just who live by faith are not of them
who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the
saving of the soul. And John said this, he said,
they went out from us because they were not of us. For had
they been of us, they no doubt would have continued with us.
But they went out that they might be made manifest. that they were
not of us. Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. This world
does not know this. They do not teach this and they
do not believe this. Salvation is of the Lord. But I tell you this, every believer
does. Every believer does. He knows
salvation is of the Lord. There's only two kinds of religion
in the world. I look at it and I see these
names. I go back and forth to Mississippi a couple weeks in
a row every month and we count the churches and we look at the
names of the churches and the issues that are out on the signs
and usually the issues in the name, whatever it is. But there
are just two kinds of religion in the world, works and grace. That's it. Now, you can put whatever
other kind of name on there you want to, but it's about one of
two things. It's either all together about
the grace of God or it's all together about the works of men,
one or the other. Works religion believes that
man can somehow save himself or contribute to his salvation
or add something to that which Christ has fully accomplished,
which God has sovereignly purposed and that which the Spirit irresistibly
works. He believes that He can add something
to that, contribute something to that. Grace believes that
salvation is the free gift of God. Whether you're talking about
God's election in eternity, God's purpose in salvation, or whether
you're talking about His calling, whether you're talking about
His regeneration, it's all of grace. All of grace. God of works, the scripture said,
lest any man should boast. And the issue at hand here is
not what men have done, but what God has done. You see that here? Paul doesn't just bring these
things up out of nowhere. He doesn't build straw men like
religious preachers do and then beat it to death. Things that
are not even issues, not even being said. But there was an
issue in his day, and here was the issue. If you preach that
the church is the Israel of God. Now, if you'll go back, like
I said, and study Romans chapter 3 and Romans chapter 2 and so
on, you're going to find out who true Israel is. It's believers. Believers. That's the Israel
of God. And he was preaching these things. And then this is
what was being cast in his face. All right, then you're saying
God has cast away his people. That's what you're preaching. And so he begins with this question,
has God cast away His people? Well, I'd ask you this, first
of all, does God have a people? Does God have a people? Does the Scriptures teach that
God has a people? Or is the world just full of
people and God trying to get something out of it? Does God
have a people? Well, you couldn't cast Him off
if He didn't. Has God cast away His people?
Does He have a people? Well, the Bible says He does.
And you can call them His sheep, as He sometimes does. My sheep
hear My voice. You believe not, because you're
not My sheep. As I said unto you, My sheep
hear My voice. He calls them His sheep. He calls
them His elect. He calls them His children. He
calls them His bride. He calls them His church. He
calls them His people. My people which are called by
My name. Isn't that what He said? God
has a people. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, Paul wrote to the Ephesians, with
all spiritual blessings and heavenly places in Christ according as
He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.
God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief of the truth whereunto He called you by our
gospel. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. God has a people and what every
Whatever natural prejudices your past has left with you, you need
to get over it and submit yourself to the scriptures and read the
scriptures, and you'll find out that God has a people. The scriptures
will never make any sense to you until you are anchored on
that, until you understand that. You know, teaching, you don't,
you kids been to school, you don't start out in kindergarten
with algebra. Huh? They start you out with
some simple addition and things, and then you kind of work your
way up. You can't start up here, and that's the way it is with
believers. When God teaches believers, He
starts down here, and He lays some foundation principles, and
He builds on that, builds on that, and He teaches us. The
foundation, listen to this, the foundation of God stand assured,
having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. Sounds to
me like He has a people. God has a people. And these people
are not just a group of men and women which God wants to save
or hopes to save, but a people He has purposed to save. God
has purposed to save them. Salvation is the reason for their
election. They were not chosen to do the
best they could do. They were not chosen and given
some advantages over others, hoping that they might do right.
God purposely chose them from among the dregs of society to
save them for the glory of His name. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
and he told them this. He said, you see your calling,
brethren? Just look around. Just look around. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called? But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh," are you
listening? No flesh of glory in His presence,
but of Him. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that gloryeth,
let him glory in the Lord. God has a people. How did they
get to be His people? How did these people, God has
a people, how did they get to be His people? By exercising
their free will? Is that how they? No. No, because
this took place before the foundation of the world. How'd they get to be His people?
Well, God chose them in Christ before the foundation of the
world. That's what the Scripture says. I wasn't there. I don't know anything about it.
You weren't there. I didn't cast a vote. Did you?
God did this. God did this. Well, what was
the basis of their election? God has a people. He chose a
people. What was the basis of it? Did
God look down through the telescope of time, like preachers say,
and he, oh, there's one. He'll choose me. He'll choose
me. I see him holding up his hand. I see that preacher talking
to him. And now he's going to walk down
the aisle. He's going to repeat after me. Is that how God chose
his people? That's ridiculous. What was the
basis of this election? Romans 11, verse 5. Just like
it was back in the days of Elijah, that's exactly the way it is
now, even so at this present time also there is a remnant
according to the election of grace. Huh? An election of grace. Well, what
in the world is that? Well, if by grace, then it's
no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more work,
no more grace. Now, let me tell you something.
If God indeed, like they said, looked down through a telescope
of time and saw who would and who wouldn't do right and who
would choose him and who wouldn't and all that, we're back to works,
aren't we? That's just future works. And
I don't care if you're talking about future works or past works
or present works. Works is works. And this election
that took place before the foundation of the world was an election
of grace. It's an election of grace. And
the basis of God's election is His free and sovereign grace
or what Paul sometimes calls the good pleasure of His will. Election is not God doing those
things which I mentioned here before. Election is the election
of grace without any consideration of works at all. And you know
how he established that? With Jacob and Esau. These two
children, before they were ever born, before they ever did any
good or evil, Now listen, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand. This election of grace, it was
said to the mother, the elder is going to serve the younger.
Because Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. God's people became His people
by an act of divine election. And that election was according
to His own purpose and grace, Paul said in II Timothy 1-9,
which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So now, he asked in Romans 11-7,
he said, what then? What then? What are you going to say to
that? What are you going to say about this election of grace?
Well, Israel hath not obtained that which it seeketh for, but
the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. How
does God blind a man, or a woman, or a group of men, or a nation,
or a world for that matter? How are they blinded? How does
God blind a man? Ephesians chapter 4. I'll tell
you how he does it. He just leaves them alone. They're
already blind. All he has to do to send you
strong delusion is pull his hand back. You're already deluded. You're already confused. You're
already ignorant. God doesn't have to do anything
except pull his hand back. Pull back the restraints. And
you'll do anything anybody else ever did. So when he talks about
the rest were blinded, he's not saying that he went over there
and blinded them. He's just saying he lifted his
hand. Lifted his hand. He just simply leaves them alone.
In Ephesians 4, verse 19, listen to the wording of Scripture.
I'm going to give you a couple of examples here of that. He
said, who being past feeling have given themselves over to
lasciviousness to work all uncleanness and greediness. Who did the giving? They did. They did. God doesn't make men sinners.
They are already sinners. Listen to James. He said, Let
no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God. For God
cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man.
But you're tempted when you're drawn away by your own lusts. Isn't that what he says? Sure
it is. And those there in Romans 1,
verse 28, who did not want to retain God in their knowledge,
who God gave over to a reprobate mind. He said God gave them over
to a reprobate mind. He said, being filled. Being
filled. Already filled. with all unrighteousness
and fornication and wickedness and covetousness and maliciousness
and so on. All God has to do is lift His
hand. If He don't do anything, everything that's in you is going
to come out. And men, I'm telling you, men mistake the restraining
grace of God for self-righteousness. I'm telling you the truth. Out
of the mass of this condemned, doomed, dead race of sinners,
God chose a people to save for the glory of His name. And His
election is an election of grace. And I'll tell you something else
about this election. This election is unto salvation. It's unto salvation. Included
in this election is all the means to accomplish God's purpose of
grace. His people were chosen in Christ. Christ is God's mediator of grace,
having predestinated. Listen to the Scriptures here
in Ephesians chapter 1. This is a marvelous chapter in
the Scriptures as far as laying down those principles of grace
in Ephesians chapter 1. I'm just going to quote a few
verses to you. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. according to the good pleasure
of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of His grace, in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of Him, who worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will, that we should be to
the praise of the glory of His grace who first trusted in Christ. Everything that God has for sinners
is in Christ. Righteousness, redemption, forgiveness
of sin, intercession, eternal life, preservation. My neighbor
said to me, it's been about two years ago, he came over to the
fence and he said, I don't know how to say this, I'm not a theologian,
but he said, I've been told that you believe that God is only
going to save certain people no matter what. I said, no, I
don't believe that. I don't believe that. I don't
believe that at all. But I do preach that God has
a people He chose in Christ. and redeemed in Christ, and made
righteous in Christ, and affectionately caused by the Spirit, and preserves
through trials, and works in them both the will and to do
of His good pleasure. And nothing can separate them
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." I
do believe that. But just no matter what business,
I don't believe that. When God chose His people, He
chose all the men. to bring it to its end. Isn't
that what he says there in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 that I quoted to you? Paul said, But I thank God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. all of the means set in place. The election of God is inclusive
of everything required to save his people's souls, even to the
preaching of the gospel and the arranging of God's providence
to cross their paths with his message of life. And how shall
you hear, he said, without a preacher? And how's he going to preach
except he'd be sent? Romans chapter 11 does not teach
that the nation of Israel shall be turned to God in the last
years before the coming of Christ. It teaches us who Israel is.
Israel is the people of God. It is the people of God. Well, they are all in Christ. All in
Christ. The Israel of God, His elect,
they are all in Christ. Now listen to this. This is over
in Colossians. He said, where there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision, not barbarian, scythian, bond
or free, not male or female, but we are all in Him. All in
Him. Christ is all and in all. Jew and Gentile. That's the Israel
of God. That's the Israel of God. Well,
will there be any of the Jews, any of the natural sons of Abraham? Are any of them going to be in
heaven? Lots of them. Lots of them. Paul was a Jew.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, James, they were all Jews. Christ Himself
was a Jew. But they're just a part of true
Israel. True Israel is made up of all
God's elect. And He shows us that over in
the book of Revelation. He shows us those twelve tribes
of Israel. And then He said, I looked and
there was a multitude. A multitude. I looked at this
Israel of God and then I looked at the multitude. And there was
men and women from every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue under
heaven. That is Israel. That is Israel. Romans chapter 9 verse 6 tells
us plainly, They are not all Israel which are of Israel, neither
because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children,
but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, verse 8, Romans
9 verse 8, That is, they which are the children of the flesh,
these are not, are not, the children of God. But the children of the
promise are counted for the seeker. So what does all this mean? Romans
11 verse 26, And so all Israel shall be saved. All of God's Israel. All of God's
Israel. not that little nation over in
the Middle East, but the Israel of God, those chosen by the election
of grace, those loved with an inseparable love, those sent
the Gospel in the saving power of the Holy Spirit, those who
have been taught of God and know the truth, all Israel shall be
saved. But know this, there is an apostate
Israel in this world the same as there was when he wrote this
chapter. There is an apostate Israel in
this world. It's called Christianity. Christianity. I'm talking about a Christianity
without Christ, who won't have Christ. If Christ came today,
the average Baptist church in this country wouldn't have Him.
They wouldn't know who He was. They wouldn't know why He came.
They wouldn't know anything about Him. The same as those Jews who
claim to glory in Christ and look for Christ and look for
the Messiah. That's the way religion does today. But they wouldn't
recognize him if he came. Because the Jesus they worship,
he's defeated. He can't do anything. His hands
are tied. He can't say. Actually, the Jesus
they describe when they preach is no different than those wooden
statues that Isaiah talked about. And our Lord said that you pray
to a God who cannot save. That's what they do. He can't
save. His hands are tied. As God's Israel was called out
of Egypt, so shall they be called out of this world and separated
to Himself. As old Israel was taught how
to worship God and given the revelation of Christ, so shall
true Israel be instructed and taught and separated from this
present evil world. And as God's presence and power
and favor dwelt in their camp, So will He dwell with true Israel
in their assemblies. God has an Israel. He has a people. And He hadn't cast them away.
He hadn't cast them away. And because that natural Israel
has been rejected, and because that natural Israel has been
given over to blindness, that doesn't have a thing to do with
God's Israel. God hadn't cast away His people.
And all Israel, all God's Israel shall be saved. All their enemies
shall be conquered. All those who falsely claim to
own their inheritance and have a right to their inheritance
shall be overcome. They shall be called out of darkness
into His marvelous light. They will hear His voice. and
follow Him. They will experience the washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. They will
believe unto the saving of their souls. They shall be justified
by His grace and made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
All Israel shall be saved. They shall be saved. And as Paul
began to write these blessed words and began to think about
all God's dealings with natural Israel and spiritual Israel,
and how one provoked the other to jealousy to believe, how one
opened the door for the other to believe, how all of these
things. He was swallowed up in awe of
God. He just swallowed up in it and
he said, Oh, he said, the depth of riches both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?
Or who hath first given to Him that it should be recompensed
unto Him again? For of Him, and this is the title
of my message to you this morning, of Him, and through Him, and
to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever." Huh? That's our God. That's our God. Oh, my brethren, don't be weary
in well-doing. Do not fret about anything this
world brings your way. Don't throw up your hands and
say, well, what's the use? What's the use? Our great Mediator
sits at the right hand of God, having already taken possession
of the promise. It's there. It's there. We have but to submit to and
follow our Joshua and watch the walls fall down. Watch our Lord
tear down the barriers. Watch Him knock down the walls,
those great walls, those armed cities. Oh, those spies came
back and said, we don't want to go in there. I mean, it's
great. Here's a bunch of greats we're
carrying between two men on a pole. It's a great place. But, oh,
he said they got walled cities and armies and men of war. We
can't go in there. Our Lord already sits on the
throne. And He's going to sit there until
the last enemy be put under His feet. Huh? He's already taken possession.
All we need to do is follow Him. Old Caleb come back. You know
what the name Caleb means? I'm not poking fun at you. The
name Caleb means faithful dog. You know a dog is faithful to
its master, isn't it? Huh? You can beat him to death,
he's still, he's right there beside you. Old Caleb come back
and he said, let's go. Let's go. Let's take it. Let's
take it. It's as well as defeated. And
the whole outfit threw up their hands and said, oh, we can't
do that. Can't do that. Has God cast away his people?
God forbid. That's what Paul said. God forbid. Don't let this religious world
kid you or take away your hope. Our God sits on the throne.